USS Essex (NCC-173)
| registry = NCC-173 | affiliation = Federation, Starfleet (originally United Earth, ) | commander = | launched = 22nd century | status = destroyed (2167); succeeded in name by (23rd century) }} The USS ''Essex'' ( ) was a Federation starship, a explorer in Starfleet service in the 22nd century. Prior to the founding of the Federation in the year 2161, Essex was a United Earth ship in Earth Starfleet service during the era of the Earth-Romulan War. ( , ) History Earth Starfleet thumb|The Essex during the Earth-Romulan War By 2155, the ship was under the command of Captain Bryce Shumar. In July 2155, the Essex along with the starship [[USS Archon (NCC-189)|USS Archon]], was dispatched to Draylax system to help the ''Columbia'' (NX-02) s repairs and render assistance to the people of Draylax after the Romulan attack, that left Columbia crippled. ( }}) In 2156, the Essex participated a wargame in the Sol System to find the weakness in the newly installed Vulcan warp-detection grid. A month later the Essex fought in the Second Battle of Berengaria and took a light amount of damage from the Romulans. ( ) During the Earth-Romulan War, the Essex, along with the Archon and another Daedalus-class ship, fought against a bird-of-prey. (Ships of the Line 2015) Federation Starfleet In 2162, the Essex carried Commissioner Soval on a mission to make the Federation's official first contact with the Saurians. After contact was established, the Essex worked with Soval in the following months to maintain relations with Sauria and work out a trade agreement. The agreement was finalized in April 2163 on Vega colony. ( ) In early 2165, the Essex operating out of Starbase 8, encountered a warlike species called the Carreon, who unsuccessfully tried to commandeer the ship for their conquest. During this encounter the crew gained knowledge of the Deltans existence and Captain Shumar decided to track them down. In April, the Essex found the Deltan homeworld, Delta IV, where they were greeted in friendship, and an official first contact was made. After First officer Caroline Paris and Armory officer Ahn Chung-hee fell victim to the Deltans exceptionally strong pheromones and empathic abilities during a sexual encounter, Captain Shumar aggressively broke off the relations. However in May, the Orion Syndicate abducted multiple Deltan citizens and despite Shumar's reservations the Essex responded to the Deltan government's call for help. Five days later they intercepted the Orion slaveship Rimula-Bero and newly promoted armory officer Morgan Kelly lead a boarding party to the vessel that freed their captives. ( ) In July, a Tellarite freighter reported receiving a distress call from Theta Cygni XII. In response, Starfleet sent the Essex to investigate. In his reporte to Admiral Jonathan Archer, Captain Shumar stated that they found all life on the planet had been destroyed due to chemical and bacteriological warfare. Shumar also informed Archer that according to the few surviving clues, the population had apparently suffered a wave of mass insanity, but a number of ships were launched prior to the final war on the world. Because Theta Cygni burned hot, the crew did not have a reliable means of tracking where the ships had gone due to the interference generated by the star, but intended to try nonetheless. ( ) It would not be for over another century until the determined that blastoneurons were responsible for the destruction. ( ) In October, with the build up of Klingon ships close to Federation borders and the threat of a war, several vessels were transferred to that area, including the Essex. Her new posting was at Starbase 12, where most of her science personnel disembarked, leaving the ship with only a skeleton crew. While on patrol, the Essex engaged the [[Raptor class (Klingon)|Klingon Raptor]] , that was attempting to disable a Starfleet listening post. Essex s assault left the Klingon vessel crippled, but lost three of its crew, including helmsman Ling. Under questioning, Gantin's commander, Captain Worik, revealed that the Klingon fleet's first target is Ardan IV. Essex, escorted by the and the was sent to Ardan to evacuate to Federation outpost there. With the extra empty space, Essex was charged with shuttling the evacuees aboard. During the operation, the Klingon strike force arrived. The two Andorian ships were able to hold up the Klingon cruisers, but a Bird-of-prey was able to break through and headed for the planet with the intent to destroy the evacuation shuttles. Essex was able to save all the vehicles by diving into the planet's atmosphere, and in the process severely damaged the bird-of-prey, but they were unable to stop the vessel from ramming the dilithium rich planet. From the collision, the dilithium deposits ignited, destroying the Federation outpost and most of the planet's surface. ( ) In 2167, the Essex still under Shumar's command, visited the Mab-Bu system, where it was caught in a electromagnetic storm over an M-class moon of Mab-Bu VI when a group of disembodied prisoners tried to use the ship as a means of escape. The Essex was lost with all hands. ( , , ) Senior staff Commanding officer * Captain Bryce Shumar (by 2155-2156, 2156-2167) First officer * Commander Caroline Paris (2161-2166) * Commander Steven Mullen (2166-2167) Science officer * Lieutenant commander Steven Mullen (by 2162-2166) * Lieutenant Alvaro Coelho (from 2166) Chief medical officer * Doctor Lieutenant commander Mazril (by 2165-) Armory officer * Lieutenant Ahn Chung-hee (until 2165) * Lieutenant Morgan Kelly (2165-2167) Communications officer * Ensign/Lieutenant Miguel Avila (by 2162-) Helmsman * Ensign Ling (until 2165) * Ensign Melissa Moy (from 2165) Appendices Connections Appearances and references * (mentioned only) * }} (mentioned only) * |Beneath the Raptor's Wing}} * Ships of the Line calendar 2015 "Romulan War" (November) * * * * * (mentioned only) External link * category:Daedalus class starships category:Earth Starfleet starships category:Federation starships Category:2167 spacecraft losses Category:22nd century starships Category:22nd century Earth starships Category:22nd century Federation starships